Improvement in sleeping-cars



E. BLOCHMAN.

SLEEPING-CAR.

Patented May16.1876.

NJETERS. PHOTQUTHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D CV a C i I Mitnsses ca UNITED STATES l PATENT FFCE. i'

EMANUEL BLOGHMAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.`

IMPROVEMENT iN SLEEPING-CARS.,

v Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 177,458, dated lMay 16, 1876; application filed January 8, 1876.

To all whom @t may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL BLocHMAN,

of San Francisco city and county, State of California, have invented aRailway-Garriage 5 and I do hereby declare the following descrip-` so that without any increase in height I am` enabled to increase the seating capacity, at the same time providing ample sleeping accommodations for all the passengers. At one v end of the car I provide a kitchen and a diningroom, the size of which may be varied at will. The construction Aand arrangement ot' .the seats are also novel, and will be more fully described by referring to lthe accompanying` drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a transverse section.

A is a car-body, which, according to myv plan, is made of about the same or a little greater height than .thevusual car-body, and may zbe mounted upon four or six Wheeled trucks in the usual manner.

The peculiarity of my car-body consistsin building the central portion, vwhich lies between the trucks at either end, so that the door B is considerably lower than the floor at the ends. Thisdepressed oor may be not more than fteen inches above the level of the road-bed; but the-exact distance is immaterial to my purpose. It will be reached by a short Hight of steps, O, at either end, and is provided with seats for the accommodation ot' passengers. The seats which I have shown will be more fully described hereafter. By thus depressing the floor of my car I provide such a height from tlo'or to ceiling that I am enabled to 'introduce a series of seats above the irst. This I do by making the upper oor D in the form of an arch in the center, so that those passengers who occupy the lower Hoor will have space enough tovwalk beneath the arch, while the seats E are arranged at the sides, asin the present manner. The upper floor has a level portion at F F close to the sides ot' the car, along which the passengers can Walk, while the seats G in this portion are arranged longitudinally, and above the arched portion D. This construction, it will be seen, economises a given space tothe utmostwithout being inconvenient. Access is had to the upper floor by short flights of steps H at the sides near the steps C, and also by ightsh between the sections, it' desired. y

The seats E are pivoted, if desired, so as to be turned to face in different directions, and' they are'separated so far that when two of them face'each other the backs will be far 4enoughapa-rt to permit the occupants to lie down when a bed is prepared. The seats are made with folding or sliding extensions i,

which, when extended, will m'eet and lill the open space between them so as to give an even surface upon which the bedis made. Swinging berths J arev supportedby hangers from the top ot this compartment, and removable berths J are fitted to be placed above the backs ofthe seats E, so as to further increase the sleeping accommodations for tho-se pass'engers who sit at the endsof the cars and in the upper section. The seats G are made with a back, K, which may be turned down, and together with a rear extension, L, will form a double bed for a portion ofthe passengersl who occupy the upper section. The remainder ot' the passengers will occupy the berths If it is desired, seats can be placed in both of the end sections; but in case a diningsaloon is preferable, one end of the car may be tted up for this purpose.

M is the stove which occupies the kitchen, and N is the diningroom. One side, o, ot' 'this room is so constructed as to move upon slides or rollers, and thus give a room which can be considerably varied in size as necessities require. Berths P can also he arranged to till the space at the side of the saloon so as to accommodate a small number of the passengers from the upper section, if necessary.

Having thus described -my invention, what I claim, and desirel to secure by Letters Patent, isy l. The car A, having the central portion of the floor placed at a lower level than the l ends, and provided with a second oor, D F, substantially as Vand for the purpose herein described.

4. The construction in a car, A, ot' two oors, B and D, hc ving the seats E and G, respectively, and the hanging and removable berths J J', substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

EMANUEL BLOCHMAN.

Witnesses Geo. H. STRONG, JN0. L. BOONE. 

